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Sweet spot & stall

Toggles, rear risers and front risers on one scale: where the sweet spot and the stall sit, the glide polar, and what moves your stall point.

Practise every drill high and only with your coach and S&TA's agreement. Nothing here is a turn height, a technique to try near the ground, or permission to progress. There is no requirement for any skydiver to swoop.

Toggles, rear risers, front risers — where the sweet spot and the stall are

Pick a control and move the slider through its travel. Watch what the wing does, which zone you are in, and how much room is left before the stall. Then switch to a heavier wing loading.

What it does: Pulls the trailing edge down. The wing gets more camber and a higher angle of attack: a short burst of extra lift, then more drag, so it slows down.

levelrelative wind (steeper = more descent) · flying ←
sweet spotstall pointno inputend of travel
Sweet spot. The canopy levels out: in a flare from full flight the horizon stops coming up and the descent nearly stops for a moment. Steady here, it flies slowly with its lowest descent rate.
Airspeedmedium
Descent ratemedium
Glide (flatness)high
Input pressuremedium
Room before the stallhigh
Same canopy model, wing loading:

The glide polar: speed against descent for every control

The big dot is where the explorer is now. Hover any line to read it, click it to move the explorer there.

slowerfasterAirspeed →Descent rate ↓ moreglide line: steeper = steeper pathToggles / brakesRear risersFront riserstrim — hands up
Text version of this chart

Each line follows one control from no input (the shared trim point) to the end of its travel. Further right is faster through the air; lower is a faster descent. The dashed line from the corner shows the glide: the steeper it is, the steeper the path over the ground in still air.

Toggles curve back to slow speed: the sweet spot sits at the top of the bend (lowest descent), then descent grows to the stall. Rear risers stay fast and get flatter, then stall abruptly at higher speed. Front risers go fast and down, with no stall point.

ControlPoint% of travelAirspeedDescent rateGlide
Toggles / brakesNo input (trim)0%very highhighhigh
Toggles / brakesSweet spot42%mediummediumhigh
Toggles / brakesStall point90%lowhighlow
Rear risersNo input (trim)0%very highhighhigh
Rear risersSweet spot40%highmediumvery high
Rear risersStall point62%highhighmedium
Front risersNo input (trim)0%very highhighhigh
Front risersEnd of travel100%very highvery highmedium

Where the stall sits in your hand travel

Toggles / brakesRear risersFront risersno stall point

Conceptual — shapes and proportions to explain the mechanics, not measurements of any canopy. Where your sweet spot and stall point really sit depends on your canopy, its size, your wing loading, line trim and brake-line setting, and the air that day. You find them up high, with your coach, and the manufacturer's manual first.

Three ways to find your sweet spot

Watch the horizon
Flare slowly from full flight: while the horizon is still rising you are still descending. The toggle depth where it stops is the sweet spot.
Feel the swing
As the wing slows, your body swings forward under it. At the sweet spot you sit roughly between the A and B lines, looking up.
Feel it eyes closed
Only with lots of height and clear air: eyes closed, feel the canopy level out through the harness and the pressure in your hands.

Source: JYRO / USPA Parachutist — 25 Ways to Become a Better Canopy Pilot (Alan Martinez) ↗

What moves your stall point

Which control
Rear risers reach the critical angle of attack with a fraction of the hand travel toggles need, and with less warning. Front risers lower the angle of attack, so they do not take the wing toward a stall.
Wing loading
More weight under the same wing raises the speed at which it stalls and shrinks the warning; the stall arrives earlier in the travel and more abruptly.
Canopy design and size
Shorter lines, more taper and cross-bracing generally mean peak lift with less toggle travel and a narrower gap between deep brakes and stall.
Brake-line setting and trim
Where the toggle sits on the line changes how much of your arm travel is 'free'. A reline or a new line set can move it — re-learn it up high.
The air
Hot or high air (density altitude) means higher true airspeed at the same angle of attack; turbulence and gusts can take away margin you thought you had.
Asymmetry
Uneven hands can stall one side first and turn the wing — the reason stall practice is done slowly, level and symmetrical.

Stall is a too-high angle of attack, not a speed. Source: USPA Parachutist / AXIS Flight School — Foundations of Flight: Rear-Riser Stall (Niklas Daniel, Nov 2012) ↗ · Module 3 of Understanding canopy performance compares how three different wings answer each input.

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Safety notice: This tool is for data review only. It does not replace canopy coaching, DZ rules, traffic awareness, S&TA guidance, or manufacturer guidance. Everything here is information for learning — not advice or a recommendation about any canopy, wing loading, turn or decision. Your decisions are your own. See the Terms of Service.